There I am: Among the many watching Houston Rockets assistant coach Chris Finch explain the intricacies of the Pick-and-Roll.

Below is an except of my article from NBA.com/Philippines.

Taking advantage of a rare opportunity

Three weeks ago, I was among the many coaches who trooped to the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City to attend the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) sponsored NBA coaches’ clinic highlighted by several members of the Houston Rockets coaching staff and the entire brain trust of the Indiana Pacers. The free coaching clinic, a joint venture between the NBA and the SBP, was an NBA developmental program that was held in conjunction with the recently concluded NBA Global Games that was held in the country.

In my capacity as a sport psychologist, I have always made it a point to take advantage of these coaching clinics or workshops in order to better understand a coach’s philosophy or decision-making process (e.g., the psychology of coaching). You see, once you look at the game of basketball as more than just putting the ball though an 18-inch hoop[i], it grants you entry to a whole new world—a game within a game. In many respects, it is what coaches do behind the scenes in order to place their players in a position to succeed.

Here are the rest of the Indiana Pacers coaching clinic highlights: (As mentioned in my last piece, Coach Vogel[ii] used technical terms to explain these points.)

4) Situational preference for “one-on-one basketball” – “The one area of basketball that we do like to play one-on-one basketball is out of the low post. You (may) think one-on-one basketball is low percentage basketball but when you’ve got David West, you’ve got Roy Hibbert, Luis Scola, Paul George, and Danny Granger to take their man down here. If you can post up with (at lease one) foot in the paint. Boom!…

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[i] A basketball hoop is 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) high mounted to a backboard at each end of the court.
[ii] Vogel is now in his 2nd full year (3rd overall) coaching the Indiana Pacers.